Thoughtful Insights. Humorous Observations.

Day 43 – Quite Woods Walking

Turtles line up in the sun, trying to warm themselves in the picture-perfect day.

I was left to myself on my last full day in Houston. The boys slept in late and then walked to Waffle House to eat their lunch. When they returned, they played some games in the hotel lobby and then I dropped them off to spend the rest of the day with their friends.

I decided it was my last chance to enjoy the beauty of Texas and so I found Memorial Park.

Several years of severe drought has devastated what must have been a magnificent park. The forest floor is littered with fallen trees, now dead and cut into sections. Towering pines stand withering and bare and will join their brothers on the forest floor in months to come. It was shocking to see the impact of the weather dry conditions over time.

The bright spot in the journey was the one butterfly that allowed me to capture it’s beauty. I’ve seen many butterflies around the Houston area, both in and out of the parks I’ve visited. This blaze of color was the first to sit still long enough to get it’s image captured for posterity.

I’ve been reading the book, Positivity during my vacation. It’s primary premise is that a person who flourishes will have a positive to negative ratio of 3:1 or greater. On a day when I was challenged by loneliness, home-sickness, frustration at the Houston traffic, and sadness concerning the terrible destroyed forest, the butterfly reminded me to stop looking at the forest but to examine the trees. Or in this case, the bugs on the trees.